Argument Schemes for Factor Ascription

Abstract

. Reasoning with legal cases by balancing factors (reasons to decide for and against the disputing parties) is a two stage process: first the factors must be ascribed and then these reasons for and against weighed to reach a decision. While the task of determining which set of reasons is stronger has received much attention, the task of factor ascription has not. Here we present a set of argument schemes for factor ascription, illustrated with a detailed example.